In Service of Elaidenyr

After finishing their training, a group of new recruits begins the mandatory year of service to the crown.

Pantheon

Name: Madeavoreldaryx, The Dragonfather
Parents: Born from the center of the world
Other family: Brother, Enkuradedraryx, The Deathdragon; Wife, Zeliida, The Great Mother; many children amongst the gods
God of: Good, Dragons, Leadership, Good Beings
Symbol: Metallic Dragons, The Metallic Wing
Patron of: Leaders, Dragons
Origin: Once, the world was in the Time Before, and nature was its sole master. There was no good or evil, and the only immortals who existed were the Ancient Ones. The ground began to rumble; from the center emerged two great beings, The Dragonfather and The Deathdragon. Ripples came from their place of emergence, and in their wake, the world began to take its form. Divine energy radiated from the center, allowing the manifestation of many other gods. Mountains and valleys were carved out, and the world’s climate began to differentiate; heat was drawn towards the center of the earth. The Dragonfather and Deathdragon looked upon each other, and knew they would be engaged in eternal battle.
Visual Representations: The Dragonfather is depicted as a Great Wyrm, with a shape similar to a Gold, but with colors ever-shifting betweean the metallic dragon shades.
His humanoid form is a gold half-dragon wearing armor that shifts between metallics.

After his epic origins, the next story that the myths tell is of the creation of Metallic Dragons. The Dragonfather wanted soldiers to fight his brother; he put a little of himself into each habitat that would come to belong to the Dragons, and the first pair of every species was born.

Name: Zeliida, The Great Mother
Parents: Sprung up from the world when the birth of the Dragons released divine energy.
Other Family: Husband, The Dragonfather; many children amongst gods and magical creatures.
Goddess of: Non-humanoid magical creatures, elves, natural magic (spell-like abilities), toleration, diversity
Symbol: Any magical beast, two overlapping circles
Patroness of: Animals, Magical Creatures, Rangers
Origin: When the Dragons were born from the center of the world, the great release of divine energy buried itself many places. Zeliida was the first deity to come about this way; divine energy came in contact with a great thicket, full of many woodland creatures, and Zeliida appeared. Right away, she started experimenting with turning the animals in her birthplace into magical creatures; her first experiments resulted in the Dire Animals, but it didn’t take her long to begin creating the intelligent giant animals. Seeing the majestic creations of the Dragonfather, she made the Pseudodragons. Unicorns and Pegasi came soon after, and before too long, she had a whole menagerie of magical, often intelligent beasts surrounding her.
Visual Representation: Zeliida is shown as a matronly, beautiful elf. Most commonly, she has long, somewhat wild dark brown hair, and deeply tan skin. Her eyes are often bright blue. Rather than clothing, she often has the features of a magical creature (feathers, fur, or light) obscuring her torso.

Many of the oldest legends of the Great Mother are lost, or incomplete. However, at some point not long after her manifestation, a being called The Dark Matron appears; she is classified as one of the Adversary-Gods, but her nature is unclear. The Dark Matron created the evil magical beasts, and a second god-war began beneath that of the great Dragons.
Zeliida prevailed, though the Dark Matron reappears in later legends. It is said that interactng with the Dark Matron made her wish for company that looked like her, without the corruption of the Dark Matron; this was her inspiration for creating the Elves.

Name: Caidelen
Parents: Spontaneously created from Arcane Magic
Other Family: Twin Brother, Alektel; Wife, Erakszera; Son, Telidane.
God of: Magic, Magical Fire, Regret, Research, Pure Knowledge
Symbol: Raven, Staff and Wand, Many-pointed Black Star, A Small Flame
Patron of: Mages, Knowledge-Seekers
Origin: The great divine energy released by the birth of the dragons met a large convergence of arcane magic. Two beings appeared : Caidelen and Alektel. Much of the arcane magic that flowed through that spot flowed through one or the other of them, making the magic good or evil. Rather than beginning battle immediately, they retreated to study.
Visual Representation: A very old, regal looking man, or a much younger man with a wild look in his dark eyes. Both have pale skin, and black hair which looks almost absent of light, though the older version has silver streaks. He often is depicted with a short, well-kept beard. Usually he is clothed in a long, black robe, with a flame shape on the left side.

Rather than fight his brother alone, Caidelen pledged himself to the service of the Dragonfather. His service mostly comes in the form of illuminating knowledge, of magic and the secrets of the universe.

Name: Teryssya
Parents: The Northern All-Father, Altejon
God of: War, Protection, Guardians, Protective Magics, Sacrifice
Symbol: Ornate Waraxe, Humanoid Hand Gripped Around Any Weapon, Clawed Fist (Modern representations color the claw gold, but Northerners use grey.)
Patroness of: Defenders, Soldiers
Origin: Her origin story in the north is as one of the All-Father’s many children. To bring her into the Southern Pantheon, they made her the daughter of Altejon, the Southern War God, by one of the first lady-soldiers.
Visual Representation: The Northern representations of Teryssya show a woman with light blonde hair and pale skin, but the new, southern representations have her appearing very similar to the matriarch Queen Elaine, with golden hair and gold-brown skin. She usually appears to be in early middle age. In the North, she was sometimes shown as a bear, but this has died out in Elaidenyr.

Being a holdover from the old pantheon, she doesn’t have a clear place in the Southern Myths. However, the story goes that she was the child of Altejon and a great soldier-turned-duchess. Altejon went off to fight other wars, leaving Teryssya in charge of his domains.

Name: Dalzirim
Parents: Manifested from Nature
Other Family: Erakszera, Daughter; Dravelt, Son.
God of: Nature, Natural Knowledge, Animals, Plants
Symbol: Flowers, Flowering Trees, Bare Feet, Vines, Stags
Patron of: Druids, Rangers, Traditionalist Hunters, Animals
Origin: The great shockwave of divine energy caught the attention of the great force of nature. It feared the destructive potential of evil, and felt wary of the creative potential of good. Through its children that she had ascended, it asked the Great Mother for help in creating form like hers. Together, nature and the Great Mother shaped a body and organized mind to do its will. Dalzirim was born, and became the Great Mother’s first lover.
Visual Representation: He is often shown as a man of indeterminable age, covered only by a robe and cloak made from the plants around him (sometimes more private depictons have him fully nude) His hair and skin are both dark shades of brown, and he his hair and beard are long and somewhat messy. His eyes are brilliantly green. He also appears as a large, dark stag.

Dalzirim and the Great Mother made love for an age, spawning many animals, and the halflings. But Dalzirim’s place as spirit of nature began to pull him towards other duties; many children of the Great Mother had gone into a deep sleep without her influence. Dalzirim left her, though regretfully, and began to walk the earth, protecting and healing nature as he travelled.
The Great Mother went back to living among her elves and magical creatures, and began to raise her new children, the halflings.
Dalzirim found lovers amongst mortals, elves with their great resemblance to the Great Mother. He even felt stirrings of love once again for an elf maiden named Salidesa, a farmer with a great love of animals and life. Together they created and raised Erakszera. But Salidesa was mortal, and 400 years together was short to Dalzirim. Erakszera took on her corpse-like appearance when Salidesa died.
After this, he found companionship in four great elementals who had taken humanoid form, producing the goddesses of the elements.
After The Great Mother and Salidesa, Dalzirim no longer would allow himself to fall in love.
The Great Mother had found love eternally in the Dragonfather, but after fighting the Dark Matron, she went to Dalzirim one last time. The Great Mother and Dalzirim lay together once more, producing a sick child called Dravelt.
His myths reflect that druids rarely stay in one place long enough to marry, either choosing short relationships or celibacy.

Name: Geribius
Parents: The Dragonfather & Great Mother
Other Family: Countless Siblings; Daughter, Telidess
God of: Growth, Wine, Romantic Love, Sex, Fertility, Celebration
Symbol: Grapevines, Seeds, Genitalia (rarely displayed outside temples, though occasionally placed in a bedroom to encourage pregnancy)
Patron of: People in Alcohol-related professions, prostitutes, parents, farmers, socialites.
Origin: Eldest of the Dragonfather and Great Mother’s children together. No special origin story
Visual Representation: Large and broad, much less slender than many divinities are shown. Almost always shirtless, in a draped robe, or naked. Has a rich, light brown skintone, and long, shiny red-black hair, with a short beard.

He had his first defining moment when he went to stay with the elves, and invented fermentation and distillation. The gods, elves, and halflings, and the new-born dwarves came, the mortal races bringing their extra crops. The elves brought fruits and rice, which became wine, sake, and brandy. The Halflings brought molasses and wild grapes, and received rum and their ancestral drink, (i)Geribon(i). The Dwarves brought grain and potatoes, and he gave them beer, vodka, and whiskey.
After the invention of alcohol, he travelled the world, living closely with mortals. He took many lovers, great men and women from all the mortal races, and found an existance of enjoyment unlike any other immortal.
He gained the aspect of romantic love when he met the great Druidess Meridanda ; one of the first of that title, a woman truly at harmony with nature, a child of Dalzirim perhaps moreso than the Great Mother. The power of his love was such that it intensified that of the mortal and immortal couples who already shared love, and that of every lover to come.
They made love in her forest, and when they next returned 50 years later, the first human settlement was there. Geribius embraced the race he had created with love, and turned the honey they had harvested into mead.
When Meridanda died, he accompanied her through the fields, and met Erakszera along the way. He was filled with grief for his beloved druidess, but soon found the company of the Harvest Goddess comforting.
When his grief began to subside, he returned to his old habits of bedding any mortal who caught his fancy, but he continued spending a lot of time with Erakszera. As Caidelen spent most of his time cloistered in study, she was often lonely. Geribius felt himself falling in love again, as intensely as he had felt for Meridanda. When they joined, the seasons fell into balance, instead of fighting for supremacy.
They meet every year in the summer, the joining of planting and harvest. Geriibius still keeps lovers throughout the mortals, but the love of these two is what is remembered.

Name: Erakszera
Parents: Dalzirim, Salidesa
Other Family: Husband, Caidelen; Children, Telidess and Telidane.
Goddess of: Harvest, Cycles, Natural Death
Symbols: Bushel of Grain, Skull, Fieldmouse, Scythe
Origin: Dalzirim’s daughter with his beloved Salidesa. Was a pretty girl, taking after her mother, but gained her corpse-like appearance and aspects when she accompanied Salidesa through her fields to the next realm. As they walked through the fields, Salidesa grew younger and stronger, glowing with a glorious light; Erakszera’s flesh began to wither, but her stature grew more confident. When she let her mother release her hand to walk with the mysterious keeper on the other side, she was a fully realized death-goddess. She took the form of a field mouse and returned to her father, though they went their separate ways soon after.
Visual Representation: A beautiful woman, with hair the precise color of wheat, and eyes the brown of faded grass. Her skin appears very much like that of someone who has died recently, but has not begun to visibly decay. She is long, and lean, but not appearing malnourished. Sometimes people simply draw a skeleton with her characteristics. Alternately, she is a field mouse, or a skeletal field mouse.
Usually, she has a mournful look upon herface. However, if she is drawn with Geribius, she is joyful, hopeful, sometimes disconcertingly so with her visage.

Erakszera travelled through the lands of the mortals, comforting the grieving and protecting the fields. She came upon Caidelen, who had taken a brief respite from research, at the request of the Dragonfather. He was applying the knowledge of the arcane he had discovered, creating great illusions in the sky. Erakszera watched in awe for some time. Approaching carefully, she asked Caidelen if he would teach her.
He decided as soon as he saw her that she would be his wife, as the Dragonfather had taken the Great Mother. A deal was made; sorcery for matrimony. Naive was Erikszera, knowing only the legendary love of her parents; surely such a thing could never exist again. As they married, Geribius and Meridanda’s love changed such feelings around the world, and Caidelen grew deeper in love with Erakszera, allowing himself to be taken from his studies for some time.
And, with time, Erakszera grew to love him in a way. It was without the passionate frenzy of her parents, and could not distract her in the manner of the emotions he felt for her, but it was solid respect and friendship. They travelled together, teaching various humanoids farming and arcane magic, giving them tools to begin civilization. In this time, they brought Kadinte into the world – as civilization was their child, so was the god of civilization. But once the 12 great cities were established, Caidelen felt he needed to return to his studies, his service to the Dragonfather.
Erakszera understood and accepted, but grew less accepting as he spent more and more time away. She returned to her job of comforting the grieving, but she was growing to feel like she was one of them, and she had lost her husband.
She spoke to him about it, and he apologized profusely, but his habits did not change. A human generation passed without Caidelen leaving The Library in the Home of the Gods, and Erakszera truly felt as though she was in mourning.
Her grief began to make it harder for the crops of the world to grow, though the love of Meridanda and Geribius countered it at times. When Meridanda died, Geribius wanted to walk to the end of the field as Erakszera once had, but the harvest goddess couldn’t stand to see his health and strength turn into her weakness. She took Meridanda to the keeper, and returned to comfort Geribius.

Name: Alaedysana
Parents: The Dragonfather & Great Mother
Other Family: Brother, Faraltehier; Countless other siblings.
Goddess of: Skill, Fine Manipulation, Practical Jokes, Laughter, Comedy, Archery
Symbols: A Hand (usually grasping a small tool), A Bow, A Half-Smile, Cats
Origin: When the Mother and Father’s child Fereltehier had been lost, they tried again to create a child who could watch over happy chaos. Alaedysana came into the world with the same red hair and green eyes that her brother had possessed, and they wept at the resemblance, even through the joy of new life. Alaedysana stayed in the phase of childhood for far longer than most immortals choose, enjoying the freedom of the child-like form. One day, she wandered into the island jungles, where she met the Ancient One called Chance. She made a deal with the spirit;it would share probability and luck with the little goddess, as long as each time she used that ability, she promoted chaos in return, keeping the balance.
She returned in the form of a young woman, holding a bow and being tailed by every cat between the islands and the Home of the Gods.
Visual Representation:
Redheaded and green eyed, with the light brown skin tone most common to Velzdeans. (Somewhat odd- the people of the south who were the writers of this mythology wouldn’t have encountered red hair very often. A few elven nations and the hill dwarves are the only southern cultures with red hair until the Elaidenyrans arrived from the North and interbred.)